


overcomplicated.

by canniballistics



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 14:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1513859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canniballistics/pseuds/canniballistics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What is wrong with coffee makers these days?</p>
            </blockquote>





	overcomplicated.

**Author's Note:**

> Little sister dared me to write this. It's supposed to be really silly and (hopefully) a little cute, so I hope it's okay.

For so common a machine, it takes him a stunningly long time to figure it out. In his own defense, he's never had to deal with it; coffee was never a necessity for the Winter Soldier, much less a priority. But when he'd finally decided to come back, when he felt ready to leave the apartment, Natasha and Steve had taken him to Starbucks. That was the beginning of his undoing. 

He learned early on that it wasn't exactly fiscally responsible to go on Starbucks runs multiple times a day. Stark could afford it, sure, but Steve didn't have his bank account, and it wasn't like S.H.I.E.L.D. was in a position to be filling his paychecks anymore. And as convenient as it might have been, having HYDRA fund all of his expenses wasn't an option. (But hey, there was an idea: destroy their funds and send them into ruin by buying the Avengers Starbucks for every meal. They'd go bankrupt in no time. Or Stark. He wouldn't mind bankrupting Stark.) So he'd had to resort to one coffee every few days, instead of simply asking Steve how his coffee machine worked or risk breaking it by not. 

When the billionaire member of the team announced that construction of the Avengers Tower had reached completion, Steve had suggested they move in. It'd taken some persuasion, but Stark had allowed it, and a room on Steve's floor had been retooled into a space for him. They'd taken the tour and visited the training areas, but what held the most interest for him was the kitchen. It calls to mind vague memories that he's still trying to reconcile, of sitting in a chair and watching a woman cook, basking in the smells and learning her recipes before repeating them (clumsily) for another skinny boy and his grandmother. (Steve assures him that he'd enjoyed cooking and should pick it back up, but he isn't so sure. The thought of a knife in his hand again is too...)

The crowning achievement of the kitchen, however, is the coffee maker. It's big, chrome, with far more options and buttons than he thinks he can comprehend. His taste buds remember rationed coffee grounds, stretched to last a week; his hands haven't forgotten the tall, ugly kettles they used to have to use. So when he sees the device, he doesn't recognize it at first. Stark teaches him how to use it once, doesn't think to take into account how overcomplicated it is to just make a pot of coffee, especially for a guy who hasn't done it since the 40's. 

By that logic, it isn't his fault when he breaks it the first time. He'd just been trying to find where to put the coffee. But there were levers he didn't understand, flaps that made no sense. It had been an accident when he tore off the front section of the machine, exposing delicate wires and tubes. Unfixable, Stark had declared it, sending him dirty looks as he inspected the damage. The day after that, there had been a new, somewhat smaller machine in its place. 

The second time, there had been too many options, rolling text on a tiny screen that he hadn't noticed until it was too late. He still didn't understand why a damn coffee machine had to be so difficult. A wince when the carafe slipped from his hand and broke, and when the coffee started pouring into a container that wasn't there, he'd panicked. (In retrospect, it was funny: a mechanically programmed killer freaking out over coffee dripping and scalding the hot plate meant to warm it. Fucking hilarious.) He'd shoved a cup under the drip to catch what was left, then tried to rinse the machine in the sink - by physically lifting it and holding it under the tap when no sponge was in sight. Needless to say, the circuits had shorted and the sparks surprised him, and it had ended up with the entire machine falling and damaging the sink as well. 

After that, admittedly, it was entirely his own fault. Hell, it wasn't even an accident. Stark had bought still another new machine, this time with carefully labelled instructions as to what to do and when. That had pissed him off, more than anything, even if it was (snarkily) intended to help. So, like a petulant child, he'd swept the thing off the counter and walked away. (No disclosure on whether or not he'd stomped on it a few times.)

The next day, the machine had been replaced yet again (this time with a big sign stating "NO CYBORGS ALLOWED", ironically), but next to it sat a small, gleaming kettle, not unlike the ones used in the 1940's. It comes to him easily then, and when Steve walks into the kitchen ten minutes later, he's got a cup ready and waiting for him.


End file.
